This is Part 3 of Ranma Z, and probably the strangest so far (though
it will only get wierder from here on...)
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R * A * N * M * A Z
by Ewen "Ryoga" Cluney
Part 3: The Journeys Begin
Ranma 1/2 characters, etc. by Rumiko Takahashi
Dragonball characters, etc. by Akira Toriyama
Energy began to gather in a white sphere in her hand. "This
is the attack I was going to show you before, remember old
woman?"
Cologne waited, considering how to deal with the attack.
The sphere grew, and Kyuka swung her arm forward, but then
suddenly stopped.
Everyone looked to see what had happened. Ranma was holding
Kyuka's ponytail with both hands, and pulling on it. Kyuka was
frozen, and collapsed onto the ground.
"Damn you, Kakarot." she muttered, seemingly totally sapped
of strength. "You shouldn't do that."
Cologne looked with interest. "The ponytail! It's the weak
point of the Freyans! Now we have her."
Kyuka glared back at Ranma. "How could you? I'm your own
sister!" Suddenly, she seemed almost... pitiful. "Besides, I
wasn't going to kill that girl, or anyone else!"
"Y-you weren't?"
"Yes! I was bluffing! I would have said *anything* to get
you to rejoin us, but that was all I'd do. Please let me go!"
"You promise to leave here?"
Kyuka nodded. "Yes! I'll tell them you don't want to join
us! We'll leave you alone! I swear it!"
"Don't listen to her, boy!" Cologne shouted, "She'll say or
do anything to get loose, only to betray you!"
A tear rolled down Kyuka's cheek. "No... please..."
Suddenly, Ranma realized, she seemed like a girl, rather
than some alien invader. How could he _not_ let her go? This
would be the first time he hit a girl, and his own sister none-
theless.
Ranma let go.
An instant later, Ranma was struck in the back, and thrown
to the ground. Kyuka stood over him. She didn't seem so innocent
anymore. "Fool." she sneered. "I can see now that you aren't
worthy of being a Freyan warrior anyway." She raised her foot,
and stomped on his chest.
A scream of pain rang out through the air.
Akane, in Kyuka's space capsule, heard the cry, and looked
out the viewport, but saw nothing. The edge of the crater was too
high. But it sounded like Ranma. He had come for her, but some-
thing was happening to him. She had to help him somehow, had to
*do* something, but how could she get out of the damn capsule?
Frustrated, she began pounding on the sides of the ship.
Kyuka looked down at Ranma. "Come on, Kakarot, I want to
hear you cry for mercy!" She stomped again. The pain was unbear-
able; he could feel his ribs snapping beneath the pressure.
As Akane pounded, Ranma's screams only became louder and
more pain-filled. She couldn't take it any longer; she began
punching at the clear viewport. Her fists hurt like hell, but she
kept on punching anyway.
"You're no fun at all!" said Kyuka. "Now, Kakarot, this is
when you die!"
Suddenly, there was an explosion from the crater, and a
figure emerged from the flames, though no one present would have
believed it possible.
Barely conscious, Ranma looked in disbelief. "A-Akane?!"
Akane stood there, surrounded by a faint yellow glow, filled
with rage. "Leave him alone."
Kyuka kept her foot where it was, but tapped at her scouter.
"Power level... four hundred twenty?! How is this possible? She
was just a girl, with a power of ten, a minute ago..." Then Kyuka
realized something that was truly disturbing. "And it's still
rising... nine hundred... a thousand..."
"Akane..." Ranma managed, "how...?"
Akane took a step closer. "LEAVE RANMA ALONE!" The red aura
that surrounded her became stronger, to the point that she looked
to be at the center of a great fire. Akane jumped forward, almost
flying, and struck Kyuka with a punch.
Kyuka fell back, stunned, spun around. When she came back to
her feet, she held a hand over her heart, and the area where the
punch had landed, on which the armor was cracked.
Akane collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Kyuka looked down at Akane, and frowned. "Such power from a
mere girl. And now her power is down to two. How? What can this
power be? What does it mean?" She took a step closer, and energy
began to crackle in one hand.
Ranma's eyes opened wide. "No, please, don't hurt her!"
Kyuka looked back at Ranma. "You must realize, Kakarot, that
no one has ever done that to me. Her power is incredible. If she
were ever to learn how to control it, she could be incredibly
dangerous. I cannot allow that." She turned her attention back to
Akane. "Don't worry, brother. The two of you will not be alone in
death. You will only be the first on this world." The energy
continued to build.
Everyone watched, terrified. Akane was about to die, and
they were powerless to do anything about it. And no one knew it
better than Ryoga. He collapsed under the weight of his depres-
sion. Cologne had been right. Akane _was_ going to die, and it
_was_ all his fault. This monstrous girl had threatened them, and
then he had used one of the most powerful techniques ever known,
and *missed*! If he had managed to hit her, this would be over
now. "It... it's all my fault..."
Cologne looked at Ryoga, and realized that he was building
up energy fast. In fact, he'd probably perform a *second* Chou-
Shishihokoudan.
Kyuka prepared to strike. Suddenly, she was held in place.
Ranma held her in a headlock.
"Kakarot! What are you doing! You fool!" She tried to get
free, but realized that she couldn't; the girl's blow had weak-
ened her more than she'd thought.
Ranma spun around. "Ryoga! Can you do that again--" Ranma
quickly realized that Ryoga could. And in fact, had already
begun.
Seeing, the buildup of energy, Kyuka's eyes opened wide.
"Kakarot! You fool! How to you expect to escape the blast? You'll
easily be killed too!"
Ranma smiled. "Then we'll go together! I'm doing this for
the sake of the Earth and everything I care about! I won't let
you destroy it all!"
The sphere of energy that Ryoga held reached the bursting
point. "CHOU-SHISHIHOKOUDAN!"
Once again, a wave of ki flew from Ryoga's hands, filling
with world with blue and white brilliance.
Ranma and Kyuka lay on the ground, both mortally wounded.
Everyone stood over the pair, trying to decide what to do. They
had already called an ambulance, but it was doubtful that it
could do any good.
Kyuka lay face-down on the dirt, unable to move. She began
to laugh. "So foolish of him."
Cologne looked at the invader and frowned. "Ranma has saved
this world from destruction."
"But he's still dead."
Cologne smiled. "For now. But we can collect the dragon
balls, which, when collected, grant a wish. These can bring him
back to life."
She laughed again. "You'll need all the help you can get.
The others will be coming here soon. And the funny thing is,
they're far stronger than me."
"When... when will the come?" murmured Ranma.
"In one year."
Akane came to, and sat up. When she saw Ranma, she began to
cry. "Ranma... wh-what happened?" she stammered.
"He gave his life to save you, and the world." said Cologne.
"Truly a noble sacrifice."
Ranma slowly shook his head. "But it wasn't enough. The
others are gonna' come in a year!"
"Don't worry, we will bring you back." said Cologne, with a
faint smile, "I know a way. Until then, be strong."
Everyone waited, not sure of what to say. Akane leaned her
head against Ranma's broken chest, and continued to cry.
"Goodbye." he whispered. "I love you... tomboy..."
His eyes closed and his heart stopped. And then the lifeless
body vanished.
"What happened?" asked Ryoga. "He just... disappeared!"
Cologne nodded, and shot a glance at Happosai for the brief-
est moment. "It's Kami, the guardian of Earth. He must have some
special purpose for the boy."
The heavens were not quite what Ranma had expected. Ranma
found himself in a long line of people, along a red road that
extended through a series of yellow clouds. In the distance, he
could see a gigantic oriental-style building, with red roofs and
the general look of a palace. Above the main gate was a sign that
said "WELLCOME."
Everyone there, including himself, had a halo floating over
their heads, but otherwise looked just as they had in life. The
line moved at a slow walking pace, faster than he would have
expected, somehow, but just enough so that he would never get a
chance to sit down.
He looked down the line of people, and saw Kyuka some dis-
tance ahead -- her bright red hair sort of stood out among the
predominantly black and brown.
"Excuse me! Please, watch your step!" called out a tiny
voice. "Coming through!"
A moment later, one of the shortest men he'd ever seen stood
before Ranma. He was simply minute, with the barest wisps of
white hair on his head and bulging eyes. He wore an odd sort of
robe which had a white circle on the chest in which was the kanji
"kami", or god, and which had long sleeves and a white cape.
"Ranma! There you are! I've been looking all over for you."
It was then that Ranma realized who he was looking at. "The
old lech?" he said suddenly, "But how?"
The man looked up at him, obviously a little irritated. "You
must be mistaking me for someone else. I am Kami, and I believe
we can help one another."
Not too much later, Ranma, accompanied by Kami, had made it
to the front of the line. He walked into a vast office. In it,
there was a gigantic desk, at which sat a massive demon. Here and
there in the room were a handful of lesser devils, which were
much smaller. The big guy -- King Yama, according to the name
plate on his desk -- was red-skinned with a pair of horns, and
wore a three-piece suit. The lesser oni, on the other hand, were
blue-skinned, and reminded Ranma of Japanese office workers,
except in that they had horns too, and their slacks were in a
tiger-striped print.
Kami approached a little closer. King Yama looked down, and
sighed. "What is it now, Kami?"
Kami scratched the back of his neck. "Well, King Yama, I
have come to speak on behalf of this mortal, Ranma Saotome. I ask
that he be allowed to run the Snake Road to try to reach King
Kai. You've heard of the coming of the Freyans, and I believe
that unless he can receive training from King Kai and return to
Earth, the world will be in trouble."
Yama opened a folder, which had "Kakarot" crossed out and
"Ranma Saotome" written in on the front. "Well, this Ranma does
have an... interesting track record. He just barely qualifies for
hero status, so I suppose I will allow it, little man."
Kami bowed, and in doing so, tripped Ranma so that he was
forced to do the same. "Thank you so much, King Yama."
When they stood up, Ranma took a moment to appraise what had
just happened. "What the heck is the snake road?" he asked.
Kami nudged him. "Later."
"But what the hell is it?!"
"Quiet!" yelled Yama, his voice shaking the room like thun-
der. "Stop wasting my time! I have important business to conduct
here, and I don't need to hear your nonsense! GET OUT!"
Vejiita and Rechusa sat around the fire. The insectoid
inhabitants of this world were a little challenging to fight, but
hardly powerful by Freyan standards. They didn't taste too bad,
though.
Vejiita listened to the transmission from Kyuka, and though
for a while. "Did you hear what that woman said?" he said at
last.
Rechusa nodded and smiled. "Any one wish. Should we wish for
Kyuka back?"
He shook his head. "No, my dear, that would be a wasted
wish. Kyuka was foolish and weak. How would you like to be immor-
tal, to fight forever?"
"Now that's a wish I could live with for the rest of my
life, even if it was forever."
The two of them got into their space capsules, and launched.
The warriors had gone to the Tendo dojo to regroup and
choose a course of action. In a year, two Freyans would arrive,
and cause untold destruction. Furthermore, Kyuka, whose defeat
left Ranma dead and all of them seriously drained, was supposedly
weak compared to the two that would arrive soon.
When Genma heard the news of Ranma's demise, he was struck
silent, and started to pace a lot. Predictably, Soun began to cry
bucketfuls. Kasumi said "Oh my." and Nabiki said something about
lost business.
Akane faced Cologne. "But, what did you mean when you said
you could bring him back?"
Cologne produced an orangeish yellow sphere, which had two
red stars in it. "This is a dragon ball. There are seven of them
scattered about the world. If we can find and gather all seven,
then Shen Long, the Eternal Dragon, will be called forth to grant
a wish. Which will be that Ranma be resurrected. I already have
three of the balls, and the means by which to find the others."
Soun was instantly at her feet. "Thank you! Thank you! That
my dear Akane should be left a widow! What a tragedy it would
have been!"
Genma turned around. "So, what can be do?"
"We must go on a journey." said Cologne. "We must go on a
long training voyage, and find not only the dragon balls, but the
most powerful fighters in the world. We must journey to the
farthest reaches of China, to Nekonlon, to the Musk Dynasty, to
Togenkyo, and others. And, more importantly, we must all seek to
become more powerful." She surveyed the room. "Akane, Ryoga,
Shampoo, Happosai, you will be the ones to come with me.
Akane looked around the room. She wanted to go, but... "Why
me? Dad and Genma are better than me."
"Then you don't remember." said Ryoga. "When you attacked
Kyuka and weakened her."
"I did?"
Everyone present nodded gravely. "You have a power," said
Cologne, "that you never knew existed. If you learn to control
it, you will be a great asset to Earth."
Akane nodded. "Allright, I'll go."
Ranma was in a somewhat cramped red car, which was being
driven by one of the office oni. They traveled along a red road
at highway speeds.
He remembered Kami's words -- if he were to fall off of
Snake Road, there was no coming back. He would have to be very
careful not to trip.
"So," said the oni, "you're going to try Snake Road?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
"Wow. You must be pretty strong. Tell me something, do you
think I could learn karate?"
Ranma shrugged. "I don't see why not. All it takes to learn
martial arts is practice and a good teacher. I don't do karate,
though; I'm a student of kempo, the Anything-Goes Style."
"Wow." said the oni.
It took a while, but finally, they came to a stop, and the
oni opened the top of the car. They stepped out; before them was
a massive stone snake head, whose body stretched out seemingly
forever. The very top of the serpentine body was flat, apparently
intended for running on.
"Well mister," said the Oni, "this is it, Snake Road. All
ten thousand miles of it."
"Ten thousand miles!?"
He nodded. "Yup. I sure wouldn't want to do that. But hey,
I'm no martial artist like you. Besides, the dead don't need food
anyway."
Ranma let out a long sigh. This wasn't going to be fun.
"Well, off I go." He jumped onto the snake head, and started
running.
"Good luck!" the oni called after him. "You'll need it."
The five of them made a rather odd group. Three teenagers
and two elderly people, all martial artists, dressed as such to
varying degrees. Thankfully, they weren't going to swim to China
or anything. Rather, they were, for once, taking a plane. Getting
the money had been easier than they'd thought, since Cologne had
threatened Nabiki with some pressure point or another, which
would cause her to blurt out the truth at random times.
Akane sat by the window, the seat next to her unoccupied.
She could see the South China Sea far below.
Ranma had said that he loved her. After all that they'd been
through, he finally said those three little words that had top-
pled nations and caused great men to fall. Somehow, it seemed
strange. Not that he loved her, but that he had admitted it. On
some level, she'd known it. The number of daring rescues he'd
carried out, and the number of times he'd stomped on other guys
who made advances on her made it painfully obvious.
He'd even eaten a batch of her cookies once.
But why couldn't he admit it? For that matter, why couldn't
*she* admit it, even to herself? There was no denying that she
cared for him. When she saw him lying there, broken, she suddenly
felt helpless and alone.
But Cologne had assured them that Ranma would return. The
question was, what would he say to her when he did? Ranma didn't
know that he was going to be resurrected. He was willing to *die*
to defend her. Only love would make someone do something like
that. But Akane found her own feelings difficult to sort out. It
didn't matter that he was an alien. She knew that much for cer-
tain, but beyond that she was full of uncertainty.
"Great-grandma?" asked Shampoo. Akane could hear her in the
seat in front of her. "What you mean when you say we from other
planet?"
Cologne spoke in hushed tones. "I never told anyone of this,
but our village began as a colony from the planet Joketsuzoku.
Nearly all of us are Joketan, including you."
Shampoo tried to decide what that meant. She was not human,
yet looked and acted exactly like one... "What is different about
us, then?"
The old woman smiled. "Very little. Until your true power
shows itself." she said carefully. "But that will happen at the
proper time."
All was quiet for a time.
"Hey, gramps, what's that you got there?" asked Ryoga.
Akane peeked behind her seat. By the window was Happosai,
and next to him was Ryoga. As she suspected, Happosai was holding
a bra and rubbing it against his face.
"This is Kyuka's bra." he said happily. "Too bad she died.
Even if she was a genocidal maniac, she certainly was cute!"
Ryoga frowned. "You mean to say that you took that off of
the corpse?"
"Of course not!" Happosai nearly shouted. "When I grabbed
her I pulled it off without her knowing using my new Happo Quick
Fingers technique."
Ryoga pounded him on the head. "You pervert! Talk about
misusing the martial arts!"
"This is your captain speaking." said a calm voice over the
intercom. "We are now flying at an altitude of thirty thousand
feet over the South China Sea, and will arrive at our destination
is approximately ninety minutes."
Akane leaned back in the seat, and tried to get a little
sleep before the long journey ahead.
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by Ewen "Ryoga" Cluney (ryoga_hibiki@hotmail.com)
Ryoga's Momentos Home Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/6127/
Beware of pandas carrying signs.
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P.S.: I need info on Herb and the Musk Dynasty from the Ranma 1/2
manga. It seems that the Ranma 1/2 FAQ page is STILL down (anyone
know why?).
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